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Beautiful Disaster

I’ll have the more detailed post with all the how-to’s later on when I actually finish the project, but wanted to give you the as-is for now.

I originally got the idea from the closet shelving built by DIYDiva. I’ve been wanting to build my own dining room table for a long time now and had considered the classic farmhouse table style. I liked the look of old planks and even considered using pallets for awhile before realizing that it would be a little too involved for my first big project.

After several sketches and design ideas, I finally settled on a 3’x5′ table using this tutorial to construct a 2’x4′ black pipe base. I would attach 2 2″x4″x5′ boards to the frame to support the planks. I would then create the top with 10 (mistake #1) 1″x6″ boards at 36″ in length. I knew the 2×4’s didn’t really have to be quite 5′ long as long as they were close so I had Home Depot cut a 10′ board in half knowing the length was possibly a little off. Then managed to agree to having 5 6′ long 1×6’s cut in half as well (mistake #2). I mean how much more of a moron could I be?? I KNEW the boards weren’t exactly 6′ long and I had to have the planks all be the same length. I mean … it’s the top of the table. It’s kind of important that they line up. So of course I get all giddy and load up my lumber only to realize when I get home and line them all up that I’ve made a huge mistake. The boards’ lengths ranged from 35 3/4″ to 36 1/4″ meaning there was a full half inch difference between some of the boards. Pretty obvious. Hand slap to forehead moment. Luckily my completely badass mom stepped in with her circular saw and helped me cut all the boards down to match the shortest one… so now my table will be 1/4″ narrower than I’d intended. Oh well.

I used a sanding block to round all the edges of the boards – wanting them to have the natural look and feel of aged planks. Then I used Minwax’s Early American stain to coat them varying the length I left the stain on the boards to make them look a little less uniform. They’re currently on the porch drying so hopefully I can get back to work on it all soon. I’m still several days away from finishing, but already in love with it.